Ladder attachments



1965 J. A. BENNINGER, JR 3,2

LADDER ATTACHMENTS Filed April 50, 1964 4 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,223,369 LADDER A'I'IACHlVIENTS James Albert Benninger, Jr., Greenville, Pa., assignor to R. D. Werner Co., Inc., Greenville, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed Apr. 30, 1964, Ser. No. 363,772 4 Claims. (Cl. 248-210) This invention relates to an adjustable attachment which can be selectively placed at any desired elevation on a ladder or the like. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mounting which is located at the side of the ladder and can be removably secured at various points of the ladder for convenience and accessibility.

Numerous attachments for suspending containers or the like on ladders have been proposed and some are in current use, particularly ones which are attached between the rails of the ladder. The present invention proposes a new and improved ladder attachment which mounts the pail or other receptacle at the side of the ladder, i.e., beyond one or the other rail and is therefore less prone to be in the users way, and is less likely to be accidentally spilled.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved attachment for supporting pails or other containers on ladders so that the suspended container can be held either at the right hand side or the left hand side of the ladder, but in either case, beyond the rails of the ladder so as to provide free unimpeded climbing on the rungs of the ladder. In this way, it is intended that the ladder will be more safely used and with less interference to the climber.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an attachment which is readily inserted and removed from the open end of the rungs of the ladder in order that the receptacle can be quickly and reliably mounted at a preferred vertical location on the ladder. Thus, the con tainer is moved from one location to the next by withdrawing the attachement and then reinserting it at a new location depending upon the convenience requirements of the user.

It forms an important part of the present invention that the attachment once assembled to the ladder, will form a reliable grip and will not be readily dislodged and will therefore hold the container at the appropriate vertical level.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide an attachment for securing to the rungs of the ladder at either side of the ladder to take care of left-handedness and right-handedness of the user and which can be secured to the rung either by telescoping within the rung or by securing to an extension of the rung projecting beyond the ladder rail. It is proposed that the attachment will include a resilient, yieldable lock which resists accidental removal of the attachment means once it is secured in place but can nevertheless be manually removed and relocated when desired.

A further object of the invention is to provide means to maintain the handle of a paint pail or other container at an angle relative to the side rails of a ladder so that it is free of the side rails.

Another object of my invention is to provide means for suspending a pail or other container so that the handle is at angle to the horizontal top of the pail or other container to permit free access of a brush to the contents of the pail or other container.

Other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation view of a ladder having the attachment mounted therein;

3,223,369 Patented Dec. 14, 1965 FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view looking from the right hand side of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is. an enlarged detail view of the attachment shown removed from the ladder in FIGURES 1 and 2; and,

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken through the center of the attachment.

Referring now to the drawings, a ladder, designated generally by reference numeral 10, is supported at its end 12 on the ground and at the upper end 14 leans against a wall or other support structure 16 in its upright position. The ladder is comprised of two side rails 18 and 20 and a number of spaced rungs 22-38. The rungs are secured at their opposite ends to rails 18 and 20, respectively, either by a conventional type of rung joint or by means of the rung joint disclosed and claimed in US. Patent No. 3,039,186, issued June 19, 1962 and titled Method of Forming a Joint Between the Rail and Rung of a Ladder.

An attachment, designated generally by reference numeral 40 in FIGURE 3, is adapted for supporting a pail 42 or other container at a suitable vertical height of the ladder, either at the right hand side or left hand side (FIGURE .1) of the ladder. The attachment disposes the container 42 beyond the rails and in this location, the container 42 leaves a free climbing area on all portions of the rungs between the rails, thus reducing the incidence of spillage and making it more convenient for the climber to use the ladder.

The attachment consists of an enlarged boss 48, having two diagonal grooves 50 and 52 which are formed at conjugate angles to each other and which are of such a depth that the handle 54 of the pail or other container 42 fits within one or the other of the diagonal grooves 50 or 52 and prevents the handle 54 from accidental dislodgment. When the boss 48 is located on the left hand side of the ladder the groove 52 would be utilized, and when the boss is located on the right hand side of the ladder, the groove 52 would contain the handle 54 of the pail 42 thus positioning the pail away from the side rail 18 or 20. It will be readily seen the handle 54 will be maintained at an angle to the upper horizontal surface of the pail permitting free access of a brush to the paint as well as positioning the pail or other container 42 away from the side rail 18 or 20. Because of the continuous character of the grooves, the tube 62 and the associated boss 48 can be turned to any position and still have available a diagonal groove portion for retaining the handle 54 of the pail or other container. I

The boss 48 is comprised of any suitable heat hardenable resin such as an alkyd resin, a phenol-formaldehyde resin or any one of a number of other resins, the general requirement being that the material should have some degree of shock resistance, and be sufiiciently hard so as not to be marred or worn by the handle 54 when it is in place.

At the center of the boss 48 is an opening 60 which is adapted to receive an extension of the rung which projects beyond the rail; or, the opening 60 receives a separate tubular member 62 which in the illustration, is press fitted within the opening 60 and forms a rigid connection therewith. The tubular member 62 then extends at its opposite end 64, telescopically within the open end 66 of the rung 36 and is locked therein by a wire locking member 68 which passes through openings 70, 72 and ends 74, 76 are then passed into other openings 80, 82 and then bent to be locked within the tubular member 36.

The wire spring provides two bow shaped sections 84, 86 (FIGURE 3) which are larger than the inner diameter of the rung 36 and are squeezed downwardly to the position shown in FIGURE 4 when the tubular member 62 is thrust endwise into the rung 36 and bears against the inner surface of the rung to form a lock resisting endwise movement of the attachment 40 in an outward direction (leftwardly in FIGURE 4). The resistance offered by the bow sections 84, 86 is such that the attachment 40 can be withdrawn manually when it is desired to relocate it either vertically from one rung to the next or from one side of the ladder to the other.

The user or climber on the ladder thus has a convenient means for locating the container 42 at whatever location is best suited for operation, whether it be painting, caulking, cleaning or any other operation to be performed on the surface of the support wall 16.

In operation, the attachment 40 is hand carried to a particular point on the ladder where the work is to be performed and then the end of the attachment is forced telescopically into the open end of the rung against the resistance of the Wire spring bar sections 84 and 86. The attachment is then withdrawn and relocated at the next point of use while it is desired to do so.

At all times, the container is suspended in an out-of-the- Way location, that is, laterally of the rails and therefore leaves the entire portion of the ladder between the rails available for climbing. This reduces spillage, and provides a better location for the user at all times, i.e., the container is disposed more within the area of movement of the hands. For example, if the container 42 were located between the rails, it would be far more awkward to obtain access to the contents of the pail or other container. The invention thus has an added advantage in locating the container for greater accessibility to the contents.

Although the present invention has been illustrated and described in connection with selected example embodiments, it will be understood that these are illustrative of the invention and are by no means restrictive thereof. It is reasonably to be expected that those skilled in the art can make numerous revisions and adaptations of the invention to suit individual design requirements and it is intended that such revisions and changes which incorporate the herein disclosed principles will be included within the scope of the following claims as equivalents of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A removable attachment for mounting items having a handle onto the rungs of a ladder and the like, comprising a boss having elliptical grooves formed at conjugate angles therein and of a depth for receiving a handle of an item, tubular means extending into a socket opening at the center of said boss and forming a connection with said boss, and the opposite end of said tubular means being proportioned to extend into one of the various openended rungs at a preselected elevational location of a ladder to provide a support mounting at the side of a ladder.

2. In combination with a ladder having spaced rungs, a removable attachment for supporting containers through a handle therefor, at different vertical locations on the ladder, comprising an enlarged member having at least two grooves formed in the surface of the said member and disposed at angles to each other and having a depth providing that a handle of said container can be fitted therein, an elongated support means interfitted at one end to said enlarged member and extending at the opposite end into telescoping relation with a preselected ladder rung at the desired elevation of said ladder.

3. A removable support for pails or the like in combination with a ladder having spaced open-ended rungs, comprising an enlarged support means having at least one groove formed in the surface thereof and porportioned to receive the handle of a pail or the like therein, an elongated tubular means forming a connection at one end with said support means and extending at its opposite end within a preselected one of said rungs for ready insertion and removal from a preselected and open-ended rung at the desired vertical location of said ladder, said surface groove of said support means being diagonally disposed wherefor a pail or the like may be suspended laterally in spaced relation to the said ladder.

4. The removable attachment of claim 2 in which the pair of grooves disposed at angles to each other are diagonally disposed in the attachment and can be placed at either end of a ladder rung to dispose a container supported thereby in spaced relation and outwardly of the said ladder.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,292,956 1/1919 McConnal 248-217 1,309,060 7/1919 Boye 28758 1,646,049 10/1927 Boye 28758 2,217,188 10/1940 Snyder 287-58 2,226,228 12/ 1940 Kunde 248-211 2,274,411 2/ 1942 Hill et a1. 248220.5 2,488,480 11/1949 Spirt 287-58 3,160,383 12/1964 'Lamm 248211 FOREIGN PATENTS 581,092 10/ 1946 Great Britain. 683,720 12/1952 Great Britain.

CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner. 

1. A REMOVABLE ATTACHMENT FOR MOUNTING ITEMS HAVING A HANDLE ONTO THE RUNGS OF A LADDER AND THE LIKE, COMPRISING A BOSS HAVING ELLIPTICAL GROOVES FORMED AT CONJUGATE ANGLES THEREIN AND OF A DEPTH FOR RECEIVING A HANDLE OF AN ITEM, TUBULAR MEANS EXTENDING INTO A SOCKET OPENING AT THE CENTER OF SAID BOSS AND FORMING A CONNECTION WITH SAID BOSS, AND THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID TUBULAR MEANS BEING PROPORTIONED TO EXTEND INTO ONE OF THE VARIOUS OPENENDED RUNGS AT A PRESELECTED ELEVATIONAL LOCATION OF A LADDER TO PROIVDE A SUPPORT MOUNTING AT THE SIDE OF A LADDER. 